With the first half of 2014 already in the rear view mirror, analysts at J.P. Morgan on Thursday released a comprehensive report of their best ideas for the second half which were sorted based on growth, value, income, and shorting strategies.

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital sued Apple Inc.
Thursday over a proxy proposal that would eliminate preferred stock from Apple\’s charter.

Reuters

In a press release, Einhorn said Apple could unlock “several hundred billion dollars of shareholder value” by issuing preferred stock to current shareholders with dividends tied to the company’s enormous cash hoard.

Greenlight holds Apple shares and has been urging management to issue preferred stock since May.

After a debilitating two months, Herbalife Ltd.
have got their own energy boost, rising more than 10% for two sessions out of three.

What gives?

Some look-ahead to an analyst day, a super-bullish investment letter, and a high level of shorts are likely part of the mix.

The stock is a notorious favorite for short-sellers: investors have placed bets against nearly 25% of its outstanding shares, according to FactSet.

Even worse, last month hedge-fund investor Bill Ackman shared a 300-plus slide presentation that concludes \”Herbalife is a pyramid scheme.\”

Shares fell 11% in November and 28% in December.

All those bets against the stock prime shares for a bigger bounce when the outlook improves (in what\’s known as a short squeeze, an investor who has borrowed shares to short the stock must buy back the stock when the price starts to rise, driving shares even higher.)

And in the last few days, the tune got a little sweeter.

On December 29, activist investor Robert Chapman penned a letter headlined, in large bold font:

Herbalife: Why I made it a 35% position after the Bill Ackmann Bear Raid.

Procter & Gamble
shares snapped back from lackluster performance on Tuesday to break through $70 a share for the first time since 2008. Although it\’s at a four-year high, the stock is still hanging well below the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past four years. P&G is one of the 30 stocks included in the DJIA.

Shares of Deckers Outdoors , tripped up by slowing sales and excess inventory, have found a buyer in the Ugg boot maker\’s CEO, Angel Martinez. Martinez, who has a recent history of selling his company\’s stock, purchased 10,000 shares for an average price of $45.90 on July 11 in open-market transactions, according to a July […]

Denise Morrison, close to lapping her first year as CEO of Campbell Soup , is making a bigger play into the healthy drinks market with a $1.55 billion deal for privately-held Bolthouse Farms. It\’s a move to help spur new growth avenues. Bolthouse makes carrot juices, fruit smoothie and protein drinks. This line up will […]

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